Why do creators decide to participate in an event?

[Qie Niangao]

Don't worry, I'm not threatening to start a new event. More the opposite. There are so many events now, and so many creators who seem incapable of saying "no"—and I wonder why.

• Is it just greed for sales?
• Or new brands trying to establish name recognition?
• Or some allegiance to event organizers?
• Or what?

It's my impression that the overall quality of product in SL has suffered. Not only the items on sale at the weekly bargain-basement events, but also even the best of the big showcase events seem to be filled with uninspired, even sloppy work now, much more than before. I think many creators are so busy cranking out content any content that they don't have time to create anything worth buying at any price.

Now, to be fair, there are whole categories of SL products that I simply don't understand, so stuff could be magically delicious if only I knew to appreciate it.

Whatever the quality of products on offer, there's wide variability in event sophistication, specifically support of a pleasant shopping experience. I could list my personal pet peeves and favorite features, but I'm far from SL's best shopper. Still, I wonder if, before deciding to participate, merchants consider whether the events are tolerable for shoppers.

[Coffee Pancake]

Places are limited and sometimes hard won.  Events are the new malls, or even the new home store.

Shopping events has become one the primary activities in SL, don't always come away with a ton of new stuff, but do very much enjoy going.

[Bree Giffen]

I can see why new brands would want to get into a shopping event. I would never see them by roaming around the world or even searching in the Marketplace. Sometimes I'll find a real gem amongst all the demos and then visit the actual store which is hidden away on a remote island sim. I see the bigger brands usually have a more prominent location and they are always at a specific event. I think it's also a way for them to grab new eyes.  Also, I think it's a way to push themselves to creating something new every month because they now have an obligation to provide something for the event. I have seen some brands starting to come out with more generic stuff. I'm not sure if it's because of the events or if there is some other reason.

[Phil Deakins]

2 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

... but I'm far from SL's best shopper

I have never been a shopper in SL. I can probably count the number of items I've bought in SL on the fingers of one hand. BUT, since inworld shopping has been almost totally replaced by the marketplace, and selling on the marketplace isn't much good, I can fully understand why creators want to be in the shopping events. It's about people actually seeing what the creator makes and sells.

Edited June 26, 2021 by Phil Deakins

[Garnet Psaltery]

Shopping events are boring me now.  It's a few gems such as a really nice tree, useful piece of furniture, or wearable clothing amongst recycled dross - *****wear for women (with scars and bruises), thugwear for men (with scars and bruises), gazebos, fake food to carry around in your mouth, weird plushies, or jewellery for skewering your friends when they hug you.  Then I come home with a hundred demos, none of which prompts me to buy.

[LittleMe Jewell]

From what I see at many Events, the majority of the content is not actually created by the merchants there.  Instead, they have simply textured some full perm clothing/furniture/etc.  Thus, since it is all pretty much the same stuff everywhere, the merchant's wares aren't unique enough to get people to come to their actual store.  Meaning the only chance of any sale at all is at the Events, so they have to be in every Event they can possibly get in.

[Rowan Amore]

10 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

Shopping events are boring me now.  It's a few gems such as a really nice tree, useful piece of furniture, or wearable clothing amongst recycled dross - *****wear for women (with scars and bruises), thugwear for men (with scars and bruises), gazebos, fake food to carry around in your mouth, weird plushies, or jewellery for skewering your friends when they hug you.  Then I come home with a hundred demos, none of which prompts me to buy.

Totally THIS!

[Orwar]

13 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

From what I see at many Events, the majority of the content is not actually created by the merchants there.  Instead, they have simply textured some full perm clothing/furniture/etc.  Thus, since it is all pretty much the same stuff everywhere, the merchant's wares aren't unique enough to get people to come to their actual store.  Meaning the only chance of any sale at all is at the Events, so they have to be in every Event they can possibly get in.

   It depends on the event. Some events are very strict with that all products must be original mesh - but there certainly is no shortage of events for creators (if that's even the right word) who wants to try to earn a quick buck out of people's shopping frenzies. You can usually tell the prefab retextures a mile away, sometimes it's less obvious since they actually did a good job of it (!), I've occasionally picked up a demo, gone 'wait, don't I have something very similar to this?', check the creator (and edit linked to make sure it's only one creator - if there's multiple ones, it's usually a prefab). 

   I'm not against retextured prefabs if they look good - I've apparently bought at least a few over the years since I do recognise the mesh sometimes. But when you've got the same old mesh that has been used by 500 different stores and their 'twist' to it is to add an edgy pattern texture, I'll usually just skim past it.

[Coffee Pancake]

18 minutes ago, Phil Deakins said:

I have never been a shopper in SL. I can probably count the number of items I've bought in SL on the fingers of one hand. BUT, since inworld shopping has been almost totally replaced by the marketplace, and selling on the marketplace isn't much good, I can fully understand why creators want to be in the shopping events. It's about people actually seeing what the creator makes and sells.

You're not a shopper.

You can count the times you've shopped on your fingers.

Therefore in your entirely expert uninformed opinion the SLM has replaced in world shopping .. 

.. Um .. no, not in the slightest - We have stacks of on going mega shopping events that are over subscribed to the point it's almost impossible for new creators to get in and for people to shop at them in the first week they open. Premium membership matters because you get slightly higher priority on teleports into events. Home stores exist everywhere as they always have (and still have enough traffic & sales to make them finically viable), all social places still have malls at the landing point and everyone can make there own SLM store without need to own any land.

 

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

3 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

why.

• Is it just greed for sales?
• Or new brands trying to establish name recognition?
• Or some allegiance to event organizers?
• Or what?

Mostly for store promotion, not just for new brands, but also old ones to be introduced to new residents. It works for me.

Despite marketing tricks such as bundling (you know, that thing you really want only being available in the fatpack), I would not call it greed, but more likely struggle.

Allegiance is definitely a factor if the event organizers are friendly and understanding.

Having to stick to an event deadline is also convenient for the creator. Production won't drag on too long then. Something perfectionists may suffer from a lot.

I think that the average quality drop can mostly be ascribed to saturation of the market, the increase in events and the increasing number of creators participating in these events. Just like the growth in number of TV channels, movies, and crypto coins.

[Charlotte Bartlett]

As a creator I just do the Saturday Sale at the moment as the organizers allow flexibility (you don’t need to do each week) and that is a lifeline when RL takes over as it often does as a hobbyist.

I have found events useful especially a key few which are well managed like Fameshed to make the cost/benefit it takes to work on an item to be “covered”.

I have found releasing in a sale environment and at my home region hugely beneficial.   It also has allowed shoppers with a limited budget to snag a bargain before an item becomes “full priced”.  It’s win win for my customers and also for me as there is a slightly higher volume when at sale price.

So my reasons:

Not greed - more so to simply direct traffic to my products in the above format.   Only a few top tier creators I suspect make enough money from SL to even raise an eyebrow at the term greed.
 

I still spend a lot of time on making the items.  One event type I will never touch again is Gacha however!

Edited June 26, 2021 by Charlotte Bartlett
Typo

[Coffee Pancake]

17 minutes ago, Charlotte Bartlett said:

One event type I will never touch again is Gacha however!

[Janet Voxel]

4 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

Don't worry, I'm not threatening to start a new event. More the opposite. There are so many events now, and so many creators who seem incapable of saying "no"—and I wonder why.

It’s really about trying to be relevant or being relevant. Creating at events is seen as being a relevant or a “good” creator and indeed for a large number of users, it’s the only way people shop. Which is why there are now events that take people back to main stores.

4 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

• Is it just greed for sales?
• Or new brands trying to establish name recognition?
• Or some allegiance to event organizers?
• Or what?

It’s a combination of all of the above. Yes, some creators are ridiculously greedy. Yes, there are little cliques of organizers and creators and sometimes, they are one in the same. There are a lot of L$ to be made and it can be…..dirty.

4 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

It's my impression that the overall quality of product in SL has suffered. Not only the items on sale at the weekly bargain-basement events, but also even the best of the big showcase events seem to be filled with uninspired, even sloppy work now, much more than before. I think many creators are so busy cranking out content any content that they don't have time to create anything worth buying at any price.

In some ways you are correct. The overall quality of products have suffered. At the same time, the overall quality has improved. One reason is there are a lot more people attempting to create things than there was in the past.

Since traditionally, “high quality” techniques and good practices are kept away from the average new creator they are learning from wherever they can get information…which is typically YouTube. So it could result in high poly or lower quality items…but a lot of them! 
Think about something popular like alpha hair. A couple of years ago, maybe one or two creators were doing it. It sold so well, everyone was trying to do it, but it was a closely guarded secret. I remember a hair creator came on here and asked if anyone knew how to do it and got dragged. That’s because it’s not really a good practice, but people love it.

Which leads me to a final point. People in general have gotten ridiculous with their expectations and extremely entitled. Hang out at a really popular event and watch people. Some people walk up to an object….all the way up to it and if they have look at enabled, you can see them examining the item in minute detail. To them, if it’s highly detailed, it’s “good” and if it’s not…well, they’ll move on. Hang out in group chats of…anything clothing or head or body related. The hot takes on certain things are astounding, but you hear them over and over again. 
 

So a lot of things are consumer driven, because of that….and a creator’s drive to keep people that don’t know anything about mesh happy, we’re in this situation.

[Rowan Amore]

16 minutes ago, Charlotte Bartlett said:

As a creator I just do the Saturday Sale at the moment as the organizers allow flexibility (you don’t need to do each week) and that is a lifeline when RL takes over as it often does as a hobbyist.

I have found events useful especially a key few which are well managed like Fameshed to make the cost/benefit it takes to work on an item to be “covered”.

I have found releasing in a sale environment and at my home region hugely beneficial.   It also has allowed shoppers with a limited budget to snag a bargain before an item becomes “full priced”.  It’s win win for my customers and also for me as there is a slightly higher volume when at sale price.

So my reasons:

Not greed - more so to simply direct traffic to my products in the above format.   Only a few top tier creators I suspect make enough money from SL to even raise an eyebrow at the term greed.
 

I still spend a lot of time on making the items.  One event type I will never touch again is Gacha however!

You were one of the first, as I remember, who offered a copy/mod no transfer version of a gatcha if one sent you a notecard and asked.  That was a wonderful update to gatchas and I wish more did so on items such as homes. 

[Silent Mistwalker]

2 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

Totally THIS!

Am I the only one that is bored with events without ever having gone to one? 😲

I mean what constitutes an event these days. Years ago there were some that were held only occasionally and were worth the hassle. I've never found the modern version of events to be appealing.

[Prokofy Neva]

4 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

Don't worry, I'm not threatening to start a new event. More the opposite. There are so many events now, and so many creators who seem incapable of saying "no"—and I wonder why.

• Is it just greed for sales?
• Or new brands trying to establish name recognition?
• Or some allegiance to event organizers?
• Or what?

It's my impression that the overall quality of product in SL has suffered. Not only the items on sale at the weekly bargain-basement events, but also even the best of the big showcase events seem to be filled with uninspired, even sloppy work now, much more than before. I think many creators are so busy cranking out content any content that they don't have time to create anything worth buying at any price.

Now, to be fair, there are whole categories of SL products that I simply don't understand, so stuff could be magically delicious if only I knew to appreciate it.

Whatever the quality of products on offer, there's wide variability in event sophistication, specifically support of a pleasant shopping experience. I could list my personal pet peeves and favorite features, but I'm far from SL's best shopper. Still, I wonder if, before deciding to participate, merchants consider whether the events are tolerable for shoppers.

I think it's FOMO, and fear mainly of losing market share. 

I personally have become utterly jaded by all the events, there are more of them than you can possibly visit let alone spend at.

I think it's a sign of stress from the economy, I think it's taking a downturn as people both leave SL who had rushed in during the pandemic, as they get vaccinated and go outside or just get bored and go to some other online activity, and also the fact that for some people, they are still unemployed, unemployment benefits is running out, and they cannot justify this entertainment expense.

It's getting so that if a creator makes something that is not in an event, and I'm not in their group because I'm out of groups, I never see it, and I'm surprised to see something new when visiting their store.

Recently, there was an event that styled itself as helping new or "evolving" designers. But curiously, it had quite a few old designers who didn't seem to be doing anything new. It was odd.

Even at my little level, I have been in various merchants' events and they are expensive and exhausting to take part in. I wish some creators would just sit them out instead of making yet another set of balloons or picture frames.

Then this custom of having to make gifts for the anniversary of the event -- I almost wish there would be an end to that convention, it's tiresome and seldom produces much in the way of a really good and usable gift.

 

[Alwin Alcott]

3 hours ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

Shopping events are boring me now.

In the past i was a shop shopper, and visiting a few events ( there were only 3 for men that time   ) and even in that time it was already "more of the same" with sometimes a really nice thing to try the tp and when surviving the first days lag, pick it up.
Now there are events opening every day, with some luck multiple, and instead of "more of the same"... it is all the same. The rare gems to pick up got rarer, to nearly non existing.
There are hardly any original creators left, and the ones that are around..well not so special anymore because everybody goes to them for the jeans, shoes and shirts.

Edited June 26, 2021 by Alwin Alcott

[Alwin Alcott]

24 minutes ago, Prokofy Neva said:

 

I think it's a sign of stress from the economy, I think it's taking a downturn as people both leave SL who had rushed in during the pandemic, as they get vaccinated and go outside or just get bored and go to some other online activity, and also the fact that for some people, they are still unemployed, unemployment benefits is running out, and they cannot justify this entertainment expense

 

( hope this gets a place of honor on your blog again   )

i don't think it has a lot to do with the pandemic or economy, this subject is already going on for several years, it only gets worse during time. Everybody, also retexture "artists""  want their share, and there come more and more.. same as gacha resellers... they are nearly waiting around the corner to eliminate their competing shops.
I don't mind really, but the pond is not bigger... all will get less.

[Prokofy Neva]

Just now, Alwin Alcott said:

( hope this gets a place of honor on your blog again   )

i don't think it has a lot to do with the pandemic or economy, this subject is already going on for several years, it only gets worse during time. Everybody, also retexture "artists""  want their share, and there come more and more.. same as gacha resellers... they are nearly waiting around the corner to eliminate their competing shops.
I don't mind really, but the pond is not bigger... all will get less.

You can't account for the fact that there are more and more events, however, and it's more and more desperate.

There was a surge of users in the pandemic and that is subsiding now, that's a fact, Lindens confirm it, so I don't know why you need to object.

There are 26,000 sims. Not more. Thank God there are not less. There are 40,000 concurrent users. Maybe it goes up to 50,000 on Happy Weekend or whatever, but that's it, it's not substantially increasing. So more and more people are chasing the same tired buyers because they are buying less.

[Alwin Alcott]

1 minute ago, Prokofy Neva said:

There was a surge of users in the pandemic and that is subsiding now, that's a fact, Lindens confirm it, so I don't know why you need to object.

there was a light rise.. a rimple in a lake, for sure not a surge....... the Lindens kept saying it, but slowly many users started realising nobody else  did see it no impressing rising in numbers.

But you'll never agree with people you don't like, so hope this was enough for a new honorfull mentioning on your blog.

[Janet Voxel]

I don't think its a money issue. I know people that are on a limited income are very vocal about it, but people are spending money as evidenced by how crowded events are.

[LittleMe Jewell]

8 hours ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

I mean what constitutes an event these days. Years ago there were some that were held only occasionally and were worth the hassle. I've never found the modern version of events to be appealing.

To me, there are 2 different types of Events happening these days.  The ones at a single location, typically reoccurring (monthly, quarterly, etc) and the weekly Sales Events that are actually at the individual stores. 

The first kind has never really appealed to me.  They are often mobbed and way too many of the merchants are selling various retextured versions of the same stuff -- excluding a few higher end events.  Whereas the weekly Sales are a true mixed bag, with some really good stuff and some really not so good. The weekly sales do at least get you into the store -- at least for the items that you like the picture of.  Whereas the large events in one location are probably hit or miss as far as how much is actually sold and whether or not the store itself really gets traffic from them.

I think most creators, excluding some well established names, pretty much have to do at least one of those types of events in order to get any new customers.

Edited June 27, 2021 by LittleMe Jewell

[Chic Aeon]

Wow this thread moved quickly LOL.  Taking a break from work and play and RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES TOMORROW but there will be no photos included here so apparently I will be safe from complaints :D.

 

I pretty much agree with most things being said here and I have been saying them for well over a year, both here and among my creator friends.   Hence (aside from the no cashing out so what is the point of earning all the money thing) my "retirement".  

 

When, as a blogger, there is nothing in an event you feel worthy of blogging --- that is a sure sign that you don't want to be there as a blogger -- OR a creator.   I would have stopped doing events even if I hadn't given up on the selling part of the SL shopping equation.   I can sort of speak for "some" creators (yes, anecdotal comments) that sales have been dropping for awhile now -- even before Covid.   I can with certainly say that MY sales have dropped from 125,000 ish lindens at my top event maybe four years ago to LOSIING money (there are often  fees involved) at my last event.  Now that last event was going to be my Last Event even if I made money, but honestly a year or so ago at the same venue I would have made maybe 10,000 profit. Not tons but certainly something.  

 

My creator friends are still in events and some are still enthusiastic. This is a GOOD thing I think.  Some (most really) keep doing events for brand recognition and to get more people in their groups than for giant profits.  There still may be some of the giant profits out there but not for anyone that "I" hang around with :D.   

 

Events have noticeably been going down hill for at least a couple of years (more really if you were paying attention back then).  You can tell by the smaller numbers of booths being filled OR the same number of booths being filled but by less than competent creators. Eventually the event is down to a handful of people -- well, maybe two handfuls -- and then it closes.  My long time top event of several years is now no more.  It wasn't mismanagement, it was the trend and the overabundance of venues --- and sales.  

 

It is a slippery slope when you are a creator -- especially one trying to make a living or paying for dorm fees for the kids or whatever. How much time do you have to spend on creating versus how many events you feel you (want, need, should be) in.  A lot of very good creators are now doing the weekend sales. That is great for shoppers, but it waters down the need for actual purchases even more. While I was watching this all happen for the last few years I kept hoping someone would come up with the next new BIG DEAL thing (like hunts of more than a decade ago, events ( I did my first event when they were new (and free) over a dozen years ago), gachas, themed boxes etc.   So far no one has.  

 

SOME of the blame for our less than exciting event shopping these days needs (IMO) to be set firmly on the event organizers who make a TON OF MONEY off these events.  They hang on by changing from a  "top tier" or "second tier" event (I was in the second tier as many of my creator friends are) to one tier down. It's easy to do, just let the not so great folks in (sometimes with items that are NOT ORIGINAL MESH even though it is an original mesh event). Pretty soon the better creators that have been in those events don't want to be connected to those other creators.  I have seen that many times and certainly left some events because of that. 

 

I don't have an answer.  That "next new thing" may never show up and we may just be left with what we have now which is at most times VERY BORING.   There are still folks out there making stellar products and I applaud them loudly. But they are the minority these days.  Even the "top" events are oftentimes void of anything new, creative and different.  I have been depressed over this for a long while. Obviously others have been also.  

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by Chic Aeon
spelling - posted quickly because power was blinking -- too many air conditioners on I think.

[sirhc DeSantis]

SL has events?

[Quistess Alpha]

45 minutes ago, sirhc DeSantis said:

SL has events?

https://community.secondlife.com/forums/forum/296-upcoming-events-and-activities/

If you don't already know about an event, or you don't have friends who frequent events I don't really see many events advertising in places I would look.